BISTATIC ACOUSTIC TURBULENCE AND A SUSPENDED SEDIMENT PROFILER

THIS PHASE I PROJECT IS DESIGNED TO DEMONSTRATE THE FEASIBILITY OF DEVELOPING A BISTATIC ACOUSTIC DOPPLER CURRENT PROFILER SUITABLE FOR MEASURING PROFILES OF THREE-AXIS VELOCITY AND BACKSCATTERING INTENSITY OVER SHORT RANGES WITH HIGH ACCURACY AND SPATIAL RESOLUTION RELATIVELY HIGH SAMPLING RATES. THIS INSTRUMENT WILL PROVIDE MEAN CURRENT AND REYNOLDS STRESS PROFILES AND TURBULENT SPECTRA IN THE BOTTOM BOUNDARY LAYER. THE DEVELOPED PRODUCT WILL ASLO BE USEFUL FOR MEASUREMENTS IN THE NEAR-SURFACE BOUNDARY LAYER IF DEPLOYED ON A TOWER OR SUBMERGED STRUMENT IS SUITABLY CALIBRATED, THE BACKSCATTERING INTENSITY MEASUREMENTS CAN BE USED TO INDICATE SUSPENDED SEDIMENT CONCENTRATION AND FLUX. WHEN DEPLOYED IN COMBINATION WITH OTHER INSTRUMENTS SUCH AS FLUOROMETERS OR DISSOLVED GAS SENSORS, FLUXES OF SCALAR SUBSTANCES CAN BE MEASURED.